Morris Zimmerman

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Morris Zimmerman, circa 1910.

Morris Zimmerman (December 10, 1876, Letichev, Russia (now Ukraine) – October 27, 1959) was an important craftsman, merchant and businessman in Baltimore, Md. He founded Howard Luggage Company, a landmark Maryland business closed in 2007 after 93 years. At the time of its closure, the business was operated by its 3rd and 4th generation Zimmerman.

Morris started crafting trunks and luggage by hand with his father and brothers in Letichev, traveling throughout Ukraine to sell his goods, but he couldn't seem to prosper. So at age 26, he immigrated alone to America, leaving behind his pregnant wife age 17 and his 1½ year old daughter. He found work in Baltimore at a trunk factory where, because he was an excellent craftsman, he saved up enough money to bring his wife and family over. By 1906, his family was reunited and Morris was prospering. He became a supervisor in the trunk factory becoming a union organizer. Because of his union activities, he found himself fired from the lucrative job and blacklisted from luggage factories.

This forced him to go it alone and in 1914, using consignment merchandise, he opened Zimmerman's Luggage Shop, on Eutaw Street in Baltimore. He became very successful and expanded to other businesses, at one point owning 41 lease houses and 2 movie theaters. The movie theaters were losing money and dragging down his other businesses and in 1923 Morris suffered a debilitating stroke that nearly killed him.

When Morris recovered from the stroke, his business enterprises were bankrupt and he lost his home. With the aid of his children Betty, Sidney and Shirley, he slowly rebuilt. He reestablished Zimmerman's Luggage Shop by 1925. In 1928, he opened a branch on Howard Street, the up-and-coming retail district of Baltimore at the time. He named this shop "Howard Luggage" after the street and the business kept this name ever since.

In 1936 he closed the shop Eutaw Street concentrating on building Howard Luggage at the newer larger location. With his son Sidney's help, Howard Luggage went on a buying spree just before America's entry into World War II, anticipating a need for luggage during wartime. The buying spree almost bankrupted Morris again, however the gamble paid off big time when war rationing programs limited the amount of luggage produced during the war years. Morris recovered his fortune and then some when Howard Luggage became one of the only retail suppliers of luggage up and down the US east coast during the 1943-45 period. He retired in 1944 a wealthy man.

Morris was married to Dena Singer (1885-1964) in 1901 and had 6 children: Betty (1902-1979), Rose (1904-1904), Sidney (1908-1976), Shirley (1909-1997), Annette (1919-), and Pauline (1927-).